TestingGrammarAndVocabulary Outline TestinggrammarWhytestgrammarWritingspecificationsSamplingWritingitemsScoringproductiongrammartests TestingvocabularyWhytestvocabularyWhattotestItemwritingOthertestingtechniques TestingGrammar Whytestgrammar Asfarasproficiencytestsareconcerned therehasbeenaviewthatsinceitislanguageskillsthatareusuallyofinterest thenitisthesewhichshouldbetesteddirectly nottheabilitiesthatseemtounderliethem Foronething onecannotaccuratelypredictmasteryoftheskillbymeasuringcontrolofwhatwebelievetobetheabilitiesthatunderlieit Foranother thebackwasheffectoftestswhichmeasuremasteryofskillsdirectlymaybethoughtpreferabletothatoftestswhichmightencouragethelearningofgrammaticalstructuresinisolation withnoapparentneedtousethem Considerationsofthiskindhaveresultedintheabsenceofanygrammarcomponentinsomewell knownproficiencytests Butmostproficiencytestswhichareadministeredonalargescalestillretainagrammarsection Evenifonehasdoubtsabouttestinggrammarinaproficiencytest thereisoftengoodcausetoincludeagrammarcomponentintheachievement placementanddiagnostictestsofteachinginstitutions Ithastobeacceptedthatgrammaticalability orratherthelackofit setslimitstowhatcanbeachievedinthewayofskillsperformance Forthemomentatleast toobtainreliableandmorethanrudimentarydiagnosticinformationofthiskindwouldinvolvethedevelopmentandadministrationoflongandunwieldytests Computer basedtestingmaybringprogressinthisfieldinthenearfuture Writingspecifications Forachievementtests whenteachingobjectivesorthesyllabuslistthegrammaticalstructurestobetaught specificationofcontentshouldbequitestraightforward Whenthereisnosuchlistingitbecomesnecessarytoinferfromtextbooksandotherteachingmaterialswhatstructuresarebeingtaught Specificationsforaplacementtestwillnormallyincludeallofthestructuresidentifiedinthisway aswellas thosestructuresthecommandofwhichistakenforgrantedineventhelowestclasses Sampling Givingthetestcontentvaliditybyselectingwidelyfromthestructuresspecified Consideringwhatareregardedforonereasonoranotherasthemostimportantstructures Itshouldnotdeliberatelyconcentrateonthestructureswhichhappentobeeasiesttotest Writingitems Multiplechoiceitems excessiveuseshouldbeavoided Paraphrase completion andmodifiedclozeprovesufficientformostgrammartestingpurpose Theyrequirestudenttosupplygrammaticalstructuresappropriatelyandnotsimplytorecognizetheircorrectuse Paraphrase Requiringthestudentstowriteasentenceequivalentinmeaningtoonethatisgiven Itishelpfultogivepartoftheparaphraseinordertorestrictthestudentstothegrammaticalstructurebeingtested E g 1 Testingpassive pastcontinuousform Whenwearrived apolicemanwasquestioningthebankclerk Whenwearrived thebankclerkwas 2 TestingpresentperfectwithforItissixyearssinceIlastsawhim I sixyears Completion Usedtotestavarietyofstructures E g Inthefollowingconversation thesentencesnumbered 1 to 6 havebeenleftincomplete Completethemsuitably Readthewholeconversationbeforeyoubegintoanswerthequestion Mr ColewantsajobinMr Gilbert sexportbusiness Hehascomeforaninterview Mr Gilbert Goodmorning MrCole Pleasecominandsitdown Nowletmesee 1 Whichschool MrCole WhitestoneCollege P 143 144 ModifiedCloze Testingprepositionsofplace FillintheblankswithprepositionsaccordingtothepicturegivenonP144Johnlookedroundtheroom Thebookwasstill thetable Thecatwas thechair Hewonderedwhatwas thebox thetelephone Andsoon Testingarticles Candidatesarerequiredtowritethe a orNA NOArticle InEnglandchildrengoto schoolfromMondaytoFriday schoolthatMarygoestoisverysmall Shewalksthereeachmorningwith friend Onemorningtheysaw manthrowing stonesand piecesofwoodat dog dogwasafraidof man Andsoon TestingavarietyofgrammaticalstructuresWhentheoldmandied wasprobablynogreatjoy heaven andquitecertainlylittleifanyrealgriefinCharlburyDrive thepleasantlyunpretentiouscul de sac semi detachedhousestowhichhe retired Testingsentencelinking Aone wordanswerisrequired Thecouncilmustdosomethingtoimprovetransportinthecity theywilllosethenextelection Scoringproductiongrammartests Themostimportantthingistobeclearaboutwhateachitemistesting andtoawardpointsforthatonly Forvalidandreliablescoringofgrammaritemsofthekindadvocatedhere carefulpreparationofthescoringkeyisnecessary Akeyforitemsintheprevioussectionmightbealongthefollowinglines Paraphrase 1 MusthaveWasbeing ed 1point2 Ihaven t orhavenot 1pointseen 1pointforsixyears 1pointAlternatively allthreeelementscouldberequiredforapointtobegiven dependingontheinformationthatisbeinglookedfor completion TheCambridgeFirstCertificateTestpack fromwhichthecompletionitemsweretaken isratherlessexplicitthanonemightwish thoughnodoubtinanactualexaminationscorerswouldbegivenmoredetailedinstructions Thus Wholemarkforeachquestionformedcorrectlywithauxiliaryandinversion exceptNo 6 whyyouwantto etc andwithtensesuitabletocontext BonusforcontinuoustenseinNo 3 TheAmericanphrase quitcollege for leaveschool allowed Modifiedcloze Itishelpfulifcandidatesarerequiredtoputtheirresponsesinnumberedspacesattheright handsideofthepage Checkingagainstthekeyisthenverystr